"You're always going to have fluctuations with players [on youth national teams], and certain teams have better players. But at the end of the day, we should be qualifying for all these
tournaments. I think we can all agree on that fact. Sometimes setbacks are good. It makes you look at things honestly, and you can figure them out."

-- Landon Donovan,
the Golden Ball MVP at the 1999 U-17 World Cup, on the U.S. U-17s failing to qualify for the world championship for the first time in history. (MLSSoccer.com)